AL UDEID AIR BASE, QATAR -- U.S. Army Soldiers from the 5-52 Air Defense Artillery deployed to Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, to compete in a quarterly Best Warrior Competition, June 18-20, 2018. The Best Warrior Competition is an eight part event during which Soldiers learn and develop leadership skills through exposure to adverse conditions.
Sixteen members of the 5-52 ADA were put to the test physically and mentally through an Army physical fitness test, a seven part obstacle course, a written essay, a written test, a 12-mile ruck march, situational exercise training, and a three vehicle maintenance inspection to find discrepancies. It also included various administrative tasks such as writing awards, decorations, and counseling letters, and a leadership board.
“The Best Warrior Competition is bringing all our best Soldiers from each of our Battery and Company levels to compete against each other at the Battalion level,” said Sgt. Maj. Lacey Clayton, the operations sergeant major. “It’s really the competition that lets us know who’s the best of the best.”
This competition was no easy feat. The events began at midnight, requiring soldiers to perform physical challenges like a 12-mile march carrying a minimum of 30lbs in a rucksack.
“This was really tough, this was the second one I have competed in and we had a really competitive group,” said 1st Lt. Anthony Graham, a tactical director for Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 5-52 ADA and winner of the officer portion of the competition. “We were all out there for three days and things really sucked, but it was a lot of fun. This was definitely a better one with all around events.”
Along with Graham, Sgt. Gary Cairns, a section sergeant assigned to Alpha Battery, 5-52 ADA won the non-commissioned officer category of the competition and Spc. Joseluis Guitierrez, a patriot missile maintainer assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 5-52 ADA was the winner from the Soldier category.
Senior leadership did not design this specific course to make it easy on their Soldiers. They wanted to build a better, well-rounded Soldier and see what their members could really do to ultimately better serve the mission.
That mission is to deter the Iranian ballistic missile threat, while being simultaneously ready to support U.S. Central Command strategic approach. Nested within that mission is the unit’s support to U.S. Air Forces Central Command in assisting to defend the region.
“This is a competition that attempts to get to a total Soldier concept by really maximizing their physical attributes as well as their mental capability and just really pushing them as far as they can go so they can gain some experiences,” said the Command Sgt. Maj. Raymond Belk, the command sergeant major of 5-52 ADA. “They can look back and reflect on what they were able to achieve and take these events and skills back with them and try to develop their own teams and squads.”
The competitors could see this concept in the tasks they performed during the competition.
“We all do maintenance; We all need to be physically fit to do our job; we need to know how to counsel our Soldiers when we are in that leadership position, write awards for the people that deserve it, and the board helps us get that general knowledge to help our Soldiers,” said Spc. Marcus Dabash, a patriot missile maintainer assigned to Alpha Battery, 5-52 ADA.
Being in an air missile defense battalion there are not a lot of chances to really partake in all the aspects a Soldier in the infantry would.
“This gives us the opportunity to really do a lot of Soldier tasks,” said Belk. “This competition incorporates all those things, so what it does is build esprit de corps, a sense of pride with in the individual, as well as the unit.”
The competitors felt the struggle with each event but agreed the 12-mile ruck march was the most physically demanding task. Each competitor was able to take their own experience from the events and will be able to teach their fellow Soldiers in order to keep moving forward.
“This helps develop the mindset of competing and never giving up when it gets rough at some points,” said Graham. “I think it’s a pretty important thing for Soldiers to have. Just keep competing, don’t ever quit and it will get you somewhere.”
While the competitors only competed against their own rank structure, it was a welcomed change of pace to be competing with officers, non-commissioned officers, and Soldiers.
“In our job sometimes we see officers get active but for the most part they are doing admin work,” said Dabash. “Them being on the same plane as us (Soldiers) it is a sight and is a nice change of pace.”
The hopes of these competitions is to help improve the strength of the battalion through helping these Soldiers find their weaknesses and not just grow themselves, but take that information back to the units and teach their fellow Soldiers.
“We want them to be proud of what they have done and we really want them to learn from this,” said Clayton. “After each event we tell them what right looks like, and then they take that back to the field and help grow future Soldiers.”
While the Soldiers were exhausted as they pushed their bodies and minds to the limit, they could see the importance in becoming a better Soldier for the Army while pushing themselves as individuals.
“I like doing something more challenging than I’ve ever done,” said Dabash “It pushed me, I said to myself ‘I want to do this for myself. I don’t want to find my limit. I always want to be able to push a little further.”